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No. 6l5,986. Patented Dec. I3, I898.

' E. P. HENDRICKSUN.

HAND STRAP FOR CARS.

(No Model.)

Wham

.-rrro'ne PATENT- EDWARD P. HENDRIOKSON, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

HAND-STRAP FOR CARS.

QPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 615,986, dated December13, 1898. Application filed November 26, 1897. V Serial No. 659,773. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD P. HENDRICK- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at the city of New York, in the county and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hand-Straps forCars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the flexible straps or supports employed in thesurface and elevated railroad cars in cities, which straps are carriedupon a rail supported by brackets adjacent to the roof of the car andwhich rails run parallel with the car on either side. As heretoforeconstructed these straps or supports have usually consisted of a singlenarrow band of flexible material, such as leather, that permitted both asidewise swing and a lengthwise swing of the strap. The sidewise swingis not objectionable to the passenger, but the lengthwise swing; whichresults from the sudden stopping or starting of the car, isobjectionable and often causes passengers to collide in aclosely-crowded car; and the object of my invent-ion is to overcome asfar as possible the lengthwise swing.

In carrying out my invention I provide a strap having a main portion forthe grip of the hand and two straps that extend from this main portionin opposite directions. These straps are integral with the main portionand are formed by severing the strip of leather to predetermined points.The straps extending in one direction of the main portion are longerthan those extending in the other direction, those extending in onedirection being connected at their ends to those extending in the otherdirection in such a manner that a loop is formed at the main portion,and loops are formed to extend around the rod of the car, and I providea rigid bar to which the respective ends of the straps are connected andwhich bar'serves to maintain the straps in a condition of divergencefrom one another, there being two straps passing over the bar at adistance apart, the same being kept apart by the rigid bar. 4

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 an edge View,representing my improvement; and Fig. 3 shows the form of constructionof the strap as laid out fiat.

The strap comprises the main or hand portion a, the straps b 1)extending in one direction from the portion a and the .straps o 0extending in the other or opposite direction from the portion Ct. Theseparts are formed by severing the strip forming the strap toward the twoends from predetermined points, such as the punctures 2 3, the straps Z)b being made of greater length than the straps c 0. Holes are made inthe straps b b at 4, in the ends of the same straps at 5, and in theends of the straps c c at 6, and the respective ends of said straps aretapered in the plane of the strap. The bar 6, preferably of metal of therequisite or desired length and perforated at the respective ends, isemployed both as a means of connecting the parts of the strap togetherand for maintaining them in the diverged condition shown in Fig. 1.

In arranging the parts to form the hand strap rivets 7 are passedthrough the holes 4 and through the holes in the ends of the bar 6. Themain portion a of the strap is then bent withthe straps c o into a loopand the rivets are passed through the holes 6. The outer ends of thestraps b b are then brought over into the form of loops and the rivetsare passed through the holes 5. The washers of the rivets are then puton and the ends of the rivets upset to securely connect the parts, asshown in Figs. 1 and 2. The loops formed by the straps b I) receive thecar-rail f, (shown by dotted lines,) and the hand-strap hangs therefrom,as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the portion a to be grasped by the hand ofthe passenger being in a vertical plane midway between the upper ends ofthe straps around the rail f, so that the strain applied to the strap bythe hand of the passenger is divided equally upon the two straps b 5around the rail, the bar e preventing the straps being drawn toward eachother.

It is apparent that while this strap can swing readily transversely ofthe car the 1ongitudinal movement is almost entirely over-.

come, so that. thereby the passenger is enabled to stand more steadilyas against the longitudinal movements of the car.

I claim as my invention-- 1. A hand-strap for cars comprising a mainportion and integral straps extending in opposite directions therefrom,a bar and means for uniting the straps together at their ends and to thebar so that loops are formed in the straps to receive the rail of thecar and at the main portion for the hand, the straps being held in adiverging condition by the means aforesaid and the hand-opening beingparallel to the supporting-bar, substantially as set forth.

2. A hand-strap for cars comprising a main portion a, straps b 1)extending in one direction therefrom and straps c 0 extending in theother direction therefrom, said straps being integral with the mainportion a, a bar e and rivets passing through the straps b b and throughthe ends of the bar and also through the respective ends of the strapsto connect the parts, whereby loops for the rail of the car are formedin the straps b b and a loop for the hand at the main portion a,substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 22d day of November,

E. P. HENDRIOKSON. Vitnesses:

GEO. T. PINCKNEY, HAROLD SERRELL.

